Work on I-5 this weekend promises to delay northbound Seattle traffic

Revive I-5 work is back in Seattle this weekend, but people throughout the region will need to plan for delays on major highways and city streets Saturday, May 19, and Sunday, May 20, primarily for northbound traffic.

In addition to northbound I-5, people using I-405, I-90 and state routes 99, 509 and 599 will see heavier traffic as travelers avoid the region’s main interstate. 

The express lanes will be open in the northbound direction all weekend, which will create backups on southbound I-5 as well.

These closures will allow contractor crews to replace concrete and the left half of nine expansion joints. Our maintenance crews will also repair aging concrete on the Ship Canal Bridge.

From 3am to noon Saturday and 3 to 10am Sunday Northbound I-5 will remain two lanes between SR 520 and NE 45th/50th Streets.

WSDOT said they saw long backups on northbound I-5 last weekend (see video), and it took drivers at least a half hour to get through the closure area. 

"We hope that if enough people stay away from northbound I-5 – by either taking alternate routes or limiting discretionary travel – we can keep the backups to a minimum."

Even when 50% of vehicles don’t use northbound I-5, all of that traffic has to go somewhere else. So that means that you should expect delays not only on the major highways in the area, but also on Seattle surface streets.